Dual cultivation makes you stronger, everyone else is a prodigy, and I'm the only one slacking

Cui Xiu took his ring, but Yu Luoning didn't feel bad.

The ring has a unique restriction placed on it by the other person, so she can't use it even if she has it.

Only this immortal coffin, after going through many twists and turns, eventually returned to her hands.

With a flick of her sleeve, Yu Luoning sent the coffin of immortality into a stream of light, which was then drawn into the jade bracelet in her spatial dimension.

In high spirits, she immediately set off to find Shi Shangxu and his party.

After a night of turmoil, dawn finally broke over the Bone-Eating Swamp. A pale light appeared on the horizon, and the thick miasma began to slowly dissipate.

A figure moved ahead, and Yu Luoning quickly caught up, only to find that it was Shi Shangxu and his group.

When Shi Shangxu saw Yu Luoning covered in blood, his expression tightened.

He didn't say much, but handed her a Rejuvenation Pill. He glanced at her, and after confirming that there were no fatal injuries, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Man'er frowned and looked you over: "Didn't you meet a single person on your way here? How did you get so disheveled?"

Yu Luoning swallowed the pill, his expression calm: "There were many demonic beasts, and it took some effort to fight them."

Shi Shangxu didn't speak. He frowned slightly, vaguely feeling that something was wrong, but with so many things happening in the swamp, it was really hard to explain.

Qin Ranqiu stood calmly to one side, her eyes lowered.

Mortals are far too weak in front of cultivators and demonic beasts. If she hadn't been lucky enough to meet Shi Shangxu and Su Man'er in time, she would probably have been devoured by the demonic beasts long ago.

The four regrouped and turned to search for Liu Wei, Hu Qing, and the others.

Not long after, they ran into Liu Wei and Hu Qing in the southwest direction of the swamp.

Liu Wei paused, his expression slightly stiffening, as he watched Yu Luoning walk towards him.

Su Man'er looked around but couldn't see the old man, Wang Hebo, and immediately asked, "Where is Wang Hebo? Where did he go?"

Liu Wei stammered, "We...we ran into a powerful monster and couldn't even help ourselves. Old Man Wang died in the war."

Su Man'er's face immediately darkened.

"When I found Shi Shangxu, he had protected Miss Qin very well. He was covered in blood, but Miss Qin herself wasn't stained with a single drop. Look at you all! You're all clean and your spiritual energy is abundant. So, how exactly did Wang Hebo die?"

Su Man'er was truly enraged.

Liu Wei looked embarrassed, knowing he couldn't hide it any longer, and gritted his teeth, saying, "It was...it was Junior Brother Jiang who killed him."

The air suddenly turned cold.

"The swamp is thick with miasma and teeming with monsters; even we ourselves would have a hard time escaping."

Liu Wei raised his voice, his tone somewhat agitated: "That Wang Hebo was just an old man on his deathbed, panting after only a few steps. Jiang Yuxing found him in the way, so he casually..."

"You bastard!"

Su Man'er's eyebrows furrowed, and the pressure of the Golden Core stage erupted.

A terrifying spiritual pressure crashed down like a mountain. Liu Wei and Hu Qing's legs went weak, and they collapsed to their knees, pleading repeatedly, "Senior Sister, spare us! Senior Sister, spare us!"

Su Man'er retorted, "You also have relatives. If one day your relatives are also dismissed, considered a nuisance, and killed on a whim, how would you feel?"

Su Man'er is willful and has a bad temper, but she also has a bottom line.

Hearing that Wang Hebo had died at an age when he should have been enjoying his retirement, Qin Ranqiu felt a pang of pity. She bit her lower lip hard, trying to hold back her tears.

In the eyes of these high and mighty cultivators, are the lives of mortals so worthless?

What can she, a mere mortal, do?

"Where is Jiang Yuxing? Where did he go?" Su Man'er demanded sharply.

Liu Wei said in a trembling voice, "I...I don't know. He said he saw a precious monster and was going to hunt it, so he got separated from us."

As the sky grew brighter, the miasma in the muddy swamp gradually dissipated, and visibility became clearer.

Su Man'er opened her palm, held something resembling a firecracker between her fingertips, and threw it into the air. The magical artifact transformed into a hawk in the wind, trailing a tail of blazing starlight as it circled several times in the air.

This is a communication tool specifically designed to help others locate you; it is often used to gather companions when a group of people get separated.

The group waited for a long time, but there was no movement.

Yu Luoning stood expressionless at the back of the crowd, her eyes slightly lowered, letting the sunlight cast a shadow on her face.

Jiang Yuxing would naturally not return, and he perished along with his father, Elder Chiyang.

Last night, the canyon was shrouded in mist, which conveniently blocked the sect's soul tablets. Besides, Elder Chiyang died at Cui Xiu's hands, so what does it have to do with her?

Yu Luoning was not flustered at all.

Seeing that no one had shown up, Su Man'er was too lazy to wait any longer.

The team's objective was clear: to escort Qin Ranqiu back to her country, and along the way, hunt monsters to earn contribution points as a form of training.

Whether Jiang Yuxing lives or dies, the most important thing right now is to complete the mission within the stipulated time.

"Let's not wait for him, let's go first," Su Man'er decisively ordered.

"And Liu Wei and Hu Qing, you two failed in your duty to protect people. When you return to the sect, I will report this truthfully to the sect elders and punish you both."

Liu Wei lowered his head, his face gloomy.

Upon hearing this, he suddenly gritted his teeth, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Senior Sister, I must take my leave. I will not go to Qin with you; I will stay and search for Junior Brother Jiang."

When these words came out, everyone was stunned.

From the moment Jiang Yuxing failed to appear, Liu Wei was certain that Jiang Yuxing was dead.

He had previously conspired with Jiang Yuxing to murder him. But now that Jiang Yuxing is dead, he certainly can't survive either.

Staying might offer a glimmer of hope, so it's better to say goodbye and slip away while we can.

Su Man'er sneered, directly intimidating him with her imposing aura, "Are you going to disobey orders and act alone?"

Liu Wei hurriedly explained, "Junior Brother Jiang is Elder Chiyang's personal disciple. Senior Sister knows that too. I was sent here to look after Junior Brother Jiang. Now that his fate is unknown, I will be held responsible when I return. I must go find him."

The air fell silent upon hearing this.

Upon hearing this, Yu Luoning subtly narrowed her eyes.

She glanced at Liu Wei, and the whole story immediately became clear: Liu Wei was probably Jiang Yuxing's accomplice.

A disciple of a prestigious sect wouldn't be so blind.

But this person did many incomprehensible things along the way. In particular, his killing of the wolf demon was clearly a deliberate attempt to delay them so that they could pass through the Bone-Eating Swamp at night.

It's unclear whether Hu Qing, who was with him, was also involved.

Yu Luoning sneered inwardly. She would show no mercy to anyone who wanted to kill her.

"Fine, if you want to stay and die, I, the true disciple, will grant your wish." Su Man'er laughed in anger, took out a recording stone, activated its spiritual power, and threw it in front of Liu Wei.

"You should make your point clear to the Shadow Stone. This is called leaving a record, so that the elders won't bring this up later."

Liu Wei opened his mouth, but had no choice but to do as he was told. He said to the shadow stone, "Disciple Liu Wei voluntarily stays in the Bone-Corroding Swamp to search for Junior Brother Jiang. Life and death are left to fate, and have nothing to do with Senior Sister Su or the fellow disciples who are with me."

Putting away the shadow stone, Su Man'er turned around and said, "Let's go, let's continue on our way."

Before she finished speaking, she had already made a hand seal and soared into the air on her sword, taking the lead and traveling a hundred meters.

Shi Shangxu and Yu Luoning exchanged a glance.

Su Man'er's flying boat has crashed, and now she can only fly on a sword. Qin Ranqiu, therefore, needs someone to take her with her.

Since Su Man'er left early, this task can only be done by Yu Luoning.

Yu Luoning said with a wry smile, "Cousin, I fought against demonic beasts all night, and I'm a little exhausted. I'll leave Sister Qin in your care."

Shi Shangxu paused for a moment, then nodded, raised his hand and stirred up a gentle breeze to protect Qin Ranqiu as she stepped onto the flying sword.

One after another, everyone transformed into streaks of light and departed. Yu Luoning walked at the very back. Before leaving, she turned her head and glanced at Liu Wei, who was preparing to leave.

Liu Wei immediately became alert and took a half-step back: "What do you want?"

Yu Luoning laughed and said, "I'm not doing anything."

"I just wanted to remind Senior Brother Liu that the fog in the swamp is heavy in the early morning, so you should keep your eyes open and not take the wrong path."

Liu Wei spat, "Are you crazy? How could I get lost while flying on my sword?"

Yu Luoning chuckled lightly, showing no anger.

She took out a storage bag from the jade bracelet's space and tossed it over; the storage bag had already been completely looted.

Liu Wei reached out and took it, staring wide-eyed at the large "Jiang" character embroidered on the pocket.

"Junior Brother Jiang really died at your hands?"

"What are you saying, senior brother? I found it on the road. Since you're going to look for him, I'll trouble you to return this Qiankun bag to him personally."

Having said that, Yu Luoning stopped talking nonsense, and with a flash of sword light, she disappeared into the air.

Liu Wei stared intently at the receding sword light, then looked down at his storage bag and sneered, "Once something's in my hands, why would I ever give it back?"

Liu Wei probed his divine sense and opened the Qiankun bag, wanting to see what good things were inside. As soon as the bag was opened, a cloud of black mist burst out with a hum, and more than a dozen fist-sized black evil flying ants rushed straight at his face.

"Damn it! You little bitch, you were definitely up to no good."

Liu Wei was caught off guard and his head was covered in welts from the stings.

Enraged, he unleashed his magic weapon and smashed it wildly, finally killing the dozen or so black flying ants. He then quickly swallowed an antidote pill.

His face was swollen like a pig's head, so he had to quickly find a secluded place to meditate and regulate his breathing to detoxify.

Before he could catch his breath, a chilling rustling sound came from the surrounding jungle.

He opened his eyes and looked around warily.

In just a short while, countless demonic beasts with bloodshot eyes rushed toward him.

Something is wrong!

This is broad daylight! The monsters of the Bone-Eating Swamp are rarely active during the day. For them to be so active, they must be under some kind of influence.

Liu Wei suddenly thought of something.

Incense to lure beasts!

"You bitch, you tricked me again."

Liu Wei started cursing.

At this moment, a gentle morning breeze blows.

The scent of beast-attracting incense emanating from him permeated the air, and countless pairs of scarlet beast eyes stared intently at this fragrant, fleshy body.

On the other side, Yu Luoning caught up with the group ahead, stepping on her sword.

Shi Shangxu stood upright with his back straight, arms outstretched, wielding his sword as he cut through the wind.

The sword energy created a soft protective barrier, shielding Qin Ranqiu behind him.

Seeing Yu Luoning catch up, Shi Shangxu's tense expression finally relaxed.

He didn't ask anything, but simply took out a clean handkerchief from his pocket and tossed it over.

"Ningning, wipe your hands."

Yu Luoning caught it without saying a word, clutching the handkerchief that exuded a faint, cool fragrance of herbs and trees.

He carefully wiped his fingers.

Qin Ranqiu lowered her eyes slightly, looking at the handkerchief. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she already understood.